BREXIT

Nigel and Boris and glove-puppet GoveParaded Trumped-up liesAnd the lemmings threw themselves over the cliffThough I’m really not surprisedThe pathetic and the prejudiced don’t want truth and factsThey just want someone they can blameA place to grind their axeThey ignore the pleas of expertsThey don’t want reasoned rhetoricThey don’t read beyond the headlinesAll they want is soundbite politics

“Vote for Independence!”“Let’s take back control!”It won’t be long before they’re chanting,“Let’s all build a wall!”

So who can we blame?And where shall we point?And who can we find at fault?For f***’s sake, will you stop playing their game?!Let’s pause for a while –Let’s talk.Let’s not interrupt.Let’s listen for onceAs if we really caredTo hear what our brothers and sisters are sayingAnd then let’s be preparedTo lay aside our differencesTo become “far more united”To patchwork our diversityTo restore a land that’s blightedWith “us” and “them” and battle linesOf fearfulness and selfishnessAnd shutting others outWe love to mock and criticiseTo denigrate and floutBut let’s not do that!It leads to dissolution

Let’s pause for a whileLet’s talkLet’s listenLet’s strive for a solutionThat calms the fearThat holds out hopeThat says, “United – we can cope”

And what can we do to prevent insurrection?We must learn to pull in the same directionAnd don’t allow the rats of hate to gnaw away at the rope.

Just a week before the referendum to decide whether to remain in or to leave the EU, Jo Cox, MP for Batley and Spen was murdered. This is an extract from her maiden speech to Parliament on June 3, 2015

“Batley and Spen is a gathering of typically independent, no-nonsense and proud Yorkshire towns and villages. Our communities have been deeply enhanced by immigration. While we celebrate our diversity, what surprises me time and time again as I travel around the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us."